There's a thread in the general section : http://www.ducatimonsterforum.org/index.php?topic=25074.0 that outlines the problems with E10 and Monsters.  I haven't read it yet.

There's a SMH article on the move away from unleaded to ethonol blended: http://www.smh.com.au/national/unleaded-ban-expected-to-cause-rise-in-fuel-prices-20120101-1ph95.html, I assume this is E10.

I haven't read the tank problem thread (so feel free to shoot me down), and I think most people put premium into their monsters, but do oz delivered Ducatis all have plastic tanks?

I've got the SF848 on my list of next bikes so I'm particularly interested in knowing about this across the range.

thanks.

i think everything except the alloy tank 1198 are "plastic".  hypers are black plastic which i believe is fine, and aftermarket tanks like what ca cycleworks sell are similar stuff to that.  it's the white "nylon" tanks that are the issue as i understand it.

I have heard that Ducati say NOT to use ethanol fuels!?

Is the tank issue the only reason? Or is the fuel system  etc at risk also!

I know in my racing days when using methanol, all fuel had to be drained from all of the fuel system components at the end of the day or there would BIG trouble with a trashed fuel system!

I filled up with E10 95 once by mistake, my M1100 ran like a dog, stalled on take off, smelled bad and ran hot. I drained the tank later that day. Maybe it needs to be tuned to the fuel but I don't have much good to say about E10.

Just put premium in it! No way I would risk internal damage and have a bike that runs like a bag of shit to save a couple of poker machine tokens per tank.

Yeah, premium is the way to go.  so even with rural petrol stations, they have to stock 95RON?

I think I was almost caught out 1 time and was told to use octane booster with 91RON, luckily I had enough juice left to find the next  servo which had 95.

Problem is some of the girls bikes don't run very well on the high octane stuff.

95 has been hard to come by up our way ... E10 or 98.

Calling Brad Black.................
In this case^ would having the Monster tuned to a specific octane fuel be an advantage ?
I can seem to run anything in the S2R1K without much difference although she seems happiest on 95
That is what was in it when D-moto did their magic.

My old bike the 695 now the wifes had E10 by mistake once and I thought it was going to have a cardiac arrest.
It seems happiest on 91.
What say you Mr Black.

So we can expect more of you New South Welshmen to move up to the Sunshine State then?     You know us guys are 5-10 years behind you guys so hopefully we won't see this just yet up here.

well, if someone can tell me how you tune an engine to suit a certain fuel i'd give you an answer.  i've never found anyone who can actually tell me what you do to tune for super vs unleaded (like i used to get told to do in the old days) or tune it to 95 over 91.  no idea.

e10 will theoretically have a lower stoic a/f ratio as the ethanol has a much lower stoic a/f ratio (around 9:1?), but a closed loop engine should pick that up pretty quick as that's what narrowband lambda sensors do - they find the stoic point, not an actual ratio.  i don't know why it makes a differenc to some motors and not others.  i had the feeling in my car that it gave more fuel use, but i never really quantified it.

In regards to the 848 plastic tank concern, I had a 1098 for a few years with a white plastic (nylon) tank and didn't have any problems. From the extensive information that is availiable on the forum I don't think it is too hard to miss an affected tank.

If you get a chance to buy a 848, 1098 just thoroughly check out the tank area and fittings and then run non-E10 fuel.

My bike had either BP ultimate or Caltex Vortex used exclusively without issue.

And my S4R has a tin tank so it won't warp but I believe it's the water attracted by the ethanol that warps the plastic tanks so rust may be of concern later if I were to run the E10.

I also read Acerbis made the tanks so I wonder if they are affected with their long range tanks for off road bikes. My old man has an XR400 with a white plastic Acerbis tank?

The tank on my 695 is a bit swollen from E10 use by the previous owner.  At one point it got bad enough that I couldn't undo the latch at the front.  I emptied the fuel out, removed the fuel pump, and left it in the garage for a few days being blasted by a dehumidifier.  That shrank it a little.

My understanding is that the ethanol in E10 is hydrophilic, so binds with water in the air.  The water then gets absorbed by the nylon in the tank, making it swell.  Thankfully it's a reversible process, but it's really irritating to have to drain and disassemble the tank periodically to shrink it.

What I don't understand is what's the deal with higher octane fuels (which don't contain ethanol). I fill my monster on 91 unleaded when I can get it, and 95 when I can't get 91.  I'm not sure if I can tell much of a difference, to be honest, though I did get a crappy batch of 95 from the Shell at Eastern Creek, that left my monster running like a bit of a dog for a week

Quote from: tricolore on January 04, 2012, 01:45:42 AM
Just put premium in it! No way I would risk internal damage and have a bike that runs like a bag of shit to save a couple of poker machine tokens per tank.

+1 on that!  I haven't run anything but premium in my S2R.  Mind you there is a difference in the premium fuels and where to get it from but I wont go in to that right now! 

Fraser's told me at my last tune-up that Ducati had worked with Shell on the formulation of their V-Power fuel and that was what was recommended, at least for the more modern fuel-system Ducs, it was the first I heard of it.

The dealer I bought mine from told me to only use Shell............ if I was out of fuel and couldn't get anything else 
complete contrast to above post , they told me Shell had additives that 2V engine didn't like.

Its a conspiracy I say ............